Feature request: Adding an item type for live performances

prismatic7
As a performance studies student I find myself regularly needing to cite live dance, theatre and music performances - which Zotero doesn't handle. I realise that a proliferation of item types makes data extraction difficult, but the lack of this item type basically breaks Zotero for me - being able to cite performances is a large chunk of writing in performance studies, drama, music, dance and related fields.

I also note that there is no 'Play' or 'script' item type, which would be useful as well.
  • adamsmith
    how do you cite a life performance, preferably as done in a relevant journal or style guide?
  • prismatic7
    Examples:

    Harvard: http://guides.lib.monash.edu/content.php?pid=346637&sid=3021682
    MLA: http://lib.trinity.edu/lib2/cite_nontrad_mla.php
    Chicago (note only): http://www.ballarat.edu.au/current-students/learning-and-study/resources/general-guide-for-the-presentation-of-academic-work?sq_content_src=%2BdXJsPWh0dHAlM0ElMkYlMkZqZWQuY2VjYy5jb20uYXUlMkZjbGllbnRzJTJGdW9iJTJGZ2dwYXdfMjAxMCUyRmNoMDlzMDIucGhwJmFsbD0x#Ch434Se209361

    Hope they are useful - the 'Harvard' guide listed above is from my university, so it's the one I'm sticking to for my dissertation!
  • adamsmith
    Thanks, that's great. You can follow the ticket here:
    https://github.com/ajlyon/zotero-bits/issues/55
    this isn't something that'll make it into Zotero super quickly, but there's a good chance we'll get something useful in the next major Zotero version (3.1/3.5) but I can't make any promises neither on that nor on its time of arrival at this point.
  • prismatic7
    Thanks!
  • Gailekrause
    I would agree that Performance would be a great Item Type. I am citing live concerts for my thesis. Temporarily I am using Audio Recording and will change it in the final merged bibliography.
  • adamsmith
    (item type updates are going to be in Zotero 4.2)
  • Gailekrause
    Thanks - love Zotero!
  • lsloan7287
    Just wanted to add my voice to the chorus--I am working in performance studies, and a "performance" item type would be greatly appreciated. Looking forward to 4.2!

    Thanks muchly!
    --Lisa
  • knievel
    Another vote for this here. I'm a librarian and teach theater and dance students to use Zotero every semester. A performance item type would be much appreciated.
  • shoover
    Very much in support of an item type "performance". Especially since it covers a huge swath of humanities research.
  • sbaycheng
    Curious when the updates mentioned in 4.2 will be released. Reference to 4.2 and item type updates in early 2013, but nothing since then. Github ticket also seems to be stagnant. Unsure why this wasn't in the original item types with, say, film, tv, and radio. Hope this can be addressed soon. I use and recommend Zotero often and have a shared library, but the work-around on these items is tedious. Thanks.
  • adamsmith
    No particular reason this wasn't originally included beyond that it's much rarer than citing films or radio broadcasts so it likely wouldn't have shown up in an intial list. We're getting closer to the relevant release (which is going to be called 5.1 but same idea: two major versions down the road) with 5.0 now in beta and close to final release, but it's still not going to be super soon. Hopefully under a year, but I'm not going to make any promises. It depends a lot on how smoothly 5.0 rolls out.
  • hilto22a
    Strongly Agree- I need to be able to cite performances and haven't been able to find a way on Zotero!
  • Kindredg
    OMG, I am always needing to cite dance or theater performances and not only is there no selection for Performance, but there's no way to add, for example, a director in addition to an author as with theater. I've tried everything, what is your work-around for this? It's making me nuts!
  • bwiernik
    I would use Presentation for this in the mean time. What doesn’t work about that for you, and I can recommend a workaround.
  • vp.lambert
    Hi, what can be do to help move this file forward? Can we code something?
  • adamsmith
    This isn't a code issue. This still applies, minus the specific timing: https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/comment/265368/#Comment_265368
  • bosborne77
    Just wanted to add my voice in here too -- a performance option would be super-helpful! The closest I can get to the right citation is somewhere between Video Recording and TV Broadcast, but neither are giving options to specify writers or choreographers, and the exports don't denote directors. Video Recording puts the title in italics, which is good, while TV Broadcast puts it in quotation marks, but TV Broadcast includes the complete performance date instead of just the year.
  • etavares
    Reiterating the need for a live performance category here, as it is not rare as many have suggested here. The "Presentation" option gives limited types of makers (Presenter and Contributor only), rather than the range of options given for film. Recorded media have a great range of distinction within the program, allowing you to choose from Film, TV Broadcast, and Video Recording, so adding a category for live performance that would capture a range of groups (theatre, dance, re-enactment, stand-up comedy, etc.) would serve a number of groups.
  • davidbrucesmith
    Chiming in close to a year later: Performance is particularly important to my research, and often the historical document is a program. I would think a program for an academic conference etc might be a necessary item to cite as well. However, please consider this an upvote for the addition of performance as a type of citation.
  • corbett2
    Another year down, and I'm still hoping this can be added. Right now, I use artwork, presentation, or audio recording and then alter the bibliography formatting for the 1 or 2 styles that need to be corrected for my target citation style.
  • bwiernik
    The CSL item type for live performances is `performance`

    You can specify this in Zotero by adding this to Extra:

    type: performance

    That will get picked up by any citation style that is correctly designed to handle performance items (not very many so far)
  • martinjost
    I second the request for a live performance media type. Or else a generic document that allows all available database fields.
    In my work I differentiate theater performances from theater texts, source texts and secondary texts such as criticism. Neither the presentation document type nor the artwork document type really apply.
  • DWL-SDCA
    The issue is with the citation styles as much as with Zotero. What citation style are you using (APA, Chicago, MLA, etc.)? Does the style specify a format for referencing a live performance? Scripts and reviews can be easily handled.

    The Extra-
    type: performance

    will work for the existing citation styles that require formatting specific to live performances. Existing styles that do not yet allow that performance citation probably can be modified. You will also need to state the citation elements that you need (such things as date, director, venue, etc.) that aren't sufficiently covered by the current Zotero types.
  • adamsmith
    But FWIW, I'd expect a performance (or similar) item type to happen, just not necessarily super fast. The 'Extra' option works for citations but obviously not for organization
  • aarblaster
    Have added a comment into the ticket here: https://github.com/zotero/zotero-bits/issues/55
    Hopefully, both citation styles and Zotero can start to recognise performance types more!
    Harvard York does which is what I use [see hete](https://subjectguides.york.ac.uk/referencing-style-guides/harvard)
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